Fortune at Cannes Lions 2026

At Cannes Lions 2026, Fortune’s Kamal Ahmed sits down with Cannes Lions CEO Simon Cook to discuss why human creativity remains essential in the age of AI. Cook explains how leaders can harness AI’s efficiency without “promoting mediocrity at scale” and what the next generation of workers needs to thrive.

Interview with Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS

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AI is rewriting the rules of every industry. Yet Can Lion CEO Simon Cook believes the future belongs to creativity. Since being named Managing Director and later CEO in 2019, Simon has championed creativity as a means of harnessing AI to accelerate, optimize and personalize creative marketing. Fortune was an official media partner at Cannes Lions 2026, giving us access to some of the biggest names at the conference, including Simon. We sat down for a quick conversation in the Carlton Hotel to discuss how business leaders should be thinking about AI and why creativity remains a key competitive advantage for workers of any age. Simon, we're here at Can Lion, we're delighted to be official media partner at this tier one business event, frankly, of course it's about creativity, but it is also about business performance. What do you see as the main themes that are coming through from Cannes Lions this year? I think one of the main themes, and this is a constant because it's every year for us, it's really bringing people together, not just to celebrate the most creative, most effective work on the planet, but also, you know, part of our job is to give CEOs, as we've just been with the C-suite, the tools, the resources, the data that they need to not only make the case for creativity, but to lobby for future investment in creative marketing that matters. And so that is a theme because people are constantly trying to do that. And uh we, we remain here helping them so that the business of creativity continues to thrive. How do you insist, given the data you have to C-suite leaders that marketing, storytelling brand really matters when everyone is looking for direct ROI to the bottom line as quickly as possible. And often the thing that is targeted is the thing that seems most easy to cut. Yeah, that's a great question, and look, I think. The acceleration that we're gonna see with artificial intelligence is profound as we know. But one watch out for all of us is because of the efficiency it's gonna create, because of how targeted, how widespread, how personalized AI is gonna make the messaging, let's make sure that we're not promoting mediocrity at scale. You know, we still need something of a caliber that has cut through in differentiation, and that comes from human creativity. What advice do you have for the next generation of colleagues, employees, our workforces, who are looking at the world and they see questions about mass redundancies? What do you say to my children, 22 and 26, and they look at the world, they think about artificial intelligence. For where you are expert, what do you, what's your message to them about the skill sets they will need as that generation who are now starting to flourish in their first work roles? I'd probably talk to them about how we think about our own brand and the industry that it mirrors. You know, we are constantly internally talking about how we need to honor the past. Make sure that the fundamentals that have served us for so long. Don't get thrown out with the bathwater, but at the same time embrace the future. You know, we have to experiment, we have to embrace and uh harness the power of new technologies in service to the human creative idea. That's what I'd say. You can watch more of Fortune's conversations at Cannes Lions 2026 on Fortune's YouTube page and at Fortune.com.

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Fortune at Cannes Lions 2026

Interview with Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS

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Interview with Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS

Tech and Sports Giants On Winning the Crowd through Sports and Culture

Uber and Twitch Execs on Why AI Alone Can’t Build a Brand

Why Customer Experience is a Financial Asset in the Age of AI

Sephora, Instacart and Mars Pet’s Marketing Leaders on Building a Cultural Identity Engine

The Creator Evolution: How to Craft High-End Content Without Losing Your Core